Al Qaeda London Bombing Video Aired

A video of one of the London bombers speaking before the attack has been aired on the eve of the 7/7 atrocity. Scotland Yard has criticised its timing.

The video, published on an al Qaeda website, features Shehzad Tanweer and a new statement from al Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al Zawahiri.

Tanweer, 22, speaking with a Yorkshire accent, is seen in the video wearing a Muslim headscarf and jabbing his finger at the camera.

"What have you witnessed now is only the beginning of a string of attacks that will continue and become stronger until you pull your forces out of Afghanistan and Iraq and until you stop your financial and military support to America and Israel," he says.

Al Zawahri praises Tanweer, saying: "He studied physical fitness at university and he had a passion for boxing.

"Even though he was from a well-off family, his clothes and appareance didn't show that."

The video, aired on the news channel al Jazeera, is the second released by the bombers.

The Metropolitan Police's Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman said the release "can only cause maximum hurt and distress" to the bereaved families.

A videotape of Mohammed Sidique Khan, 30, the suspected ringleader of the attack, was released by al Qaeda in September.

Khan blamed the British public for the attacks, saying they voted in a Government that attacked Muslims.

Thursday is the first anniversary of the attacks, in which 52 people were murdered in four bomb attacks on London's transport system.

The degree of al Qaeda involvement in the attacks remains unclear and under investigation, according to a parliamentary intelligence and security committee report released in May.

But the release of the second tape suggests that al Qaeda had a significant role in the attacks.

Tanweer and Khan both visited Pakistan, where it was likely they had contact with al Qaeda figures, and some operational training, the parliamentary report said.